Our Business Policies

Our Sales Policy:

We believe in personal honor and integrity in our dealings with all our customers. Our photos and descriptions are as accurate as we can make them; if you need more information, don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll do our best to answer your questions.

Gemstones are minerals, a natural product that contain the markings and imperfections of genuine stones. Healed fractures and fissures are part of a stone’s development; any gems containing these are guaranteed against breakage unless the stone is roughly handled or dropped on a hard surface. Any dyes, coatings, or other treatments are included, as far as we know about them, in the description of the stone. This said, it’s possible that we might have missed a flaw in a stone and if you find one that is not acceptable to you, you are welcome to return it for a refund or store credit.

Color is an elusive quality in a gemstone: Oftentimes, stones look different under different types of light such as Daylight, vs. Halogen, vs. Incandescent bulbs. The drusies on this site were photographed under halogen light so as to bring out their sparkle. Halogen light is also a light found in many jewelry stores. The cabochons were well-lit and we have edited the photos to portray their colors as realistically as possible. Also, computer monitors have a huge variation on how they project color. Therefore, while we make every effort to be as accurate as possible in portraying the exact color of a gemstone, it might not match your expectations. In that case, you can return the stone for a refund or store credit.

Our goal is to help professional jewelry designers, students, hobbyists, collectors, and people who select stones for custom pieces–all find the stones that are perfect for them. We will make every effort to help you in this important quest.

Payment Terms:

The Heart of Stone Studio website checkout process is very secure, both for U.S. and international customers. A secure SSL connection protects your privacy as you pay. (Always check for the little yellow lock icon at the bottom of your computer screen, or an “https” in your URL–the s means secure–before you enter in any personal information. That lock icon insures that your information is being encrypted and kept safe from prying eyes.)

You can pay for your purchase instantly online with any major credit card.

During checkout, you might see the PayPal logo. This is because PayPal’s secure site is used to process all Heart of Stone Studio payments. We have dealt with PayPal for more than a decade and we find them a safe and reliable company. We also recommend them for international purchases. Most of the Heart of Stone Studio financial-related messages that you will receive will come from paypal.com, so please make sure that e-mail address is not blocked as spam on your computer.

However, it’s important to know that you don’t need to have a PayPal account to purchase our products.

If you are a member of PayPal, you can use your PayPal account to pay for your order.

You can also use PayPal to issue us an e-check. (Select e-check payment as an option after you’ve logged into your PayPal account.) The first time you pay with a PayPal e-check, there will be a delay of several days until your e-check clears. The next time you place an order and send an e-check, we’ll ship immediately because you’re an established customer.

Arizona residents, a 6.35% sales tax will automatically be added to your purchase price.

Our Shipping Policy:

We have tried to keep our shipping costs as low as possible, which is why we use the U.S. Postal Service. However, there is a special consideration involved in shipping one-of-a-kind gemstones: If your shipment is lost, we won’t be able to replace those exact items.

To cover shipping and handling costs, we are charging customers in the United States a flat fee of $10.  Because shipping costs to Canada are higher, we are charging our Canadian customers a flat fee of $15.

Our shipping policy is that all orders to addresses in the United States and Canada will be shipped via Priority Mail to enable them to be tracked.  Please be aware that if your order is lost or stolen, we can provide proof of shipping but beyond that, Heart of Stone Studio will not accept responsibility for refund or replacement of the missing items.

International customers: Customers from other countries will be charged a flat fee of $35, to cover the shipping fees plus a modest amount for the additional time involved in filling out customs forms and providing special packaging. Shipping will be by Standard International First Class Shipping. If you have questions about shipping, please feel free to e-mail us. We love our international customers and want to help you get the best price and service.

Our Return Policy:

Some of the items on this website are expensive, and if you are considering purchasing any of them, don’t worry–your satisfaction is guaranteed. If the item is not what you expected, or is just not right for you, you can return it. But the structure of our new website requires that you act promptly.

Here is what you need to do:

1. NOTIFY us by e-mail within 5 days of receiving your order. Prompt notification is important because it will enable us to keep those stones from being completely deleted from our records. Send your e-mail to: info@heartofstonestudio.com with the subject line: Return

2. DECIDE if you want your money back or if you want store credit. If you want store credit (i.e., to exchange the returned stones for others on the site), we can issue you a credit code that has no expiration date. You can use this code at checkout to apply your credit to any new purchases on the Heart of Stone Studio website. You can use all or part of it at any time, and we will keep track of your available balance.

If you want a full refund, that’s fine. Just let us know immediately and be sure to ship the stone(s) back within ten days of receiving your order. When we receive the stones back in good condition, you will receive a full refund of the value of the stone(s) you return. The refund will go, via PayPal, directly back to your original payment source. IMPORTANT NOTE: Multiple-Stone Returns are subject to new conditions, see below.

3. PACK AND SHIP back to us within ten days of receiving your order. Just re-wrap the item(s) the same way and ship the package back to us safely, and if the contents arrive in the same condition in which we sent them to you, we’ll issue your refund or store credit.

4. DAMAGED GOODS: If an item was damaged when it got to you, be sure to save the packaging it came in and photograph everything, if possible. That way, we have a chance to get compensated by the carrier. Let us know what happened and we’ll work out a return shipping arrangement.

Because of the new structure and operation of the new Heart of Stone Studio website, returns proposed outside these directives cannot be accepted.

Multiple-Stone Returns:

Posting a gemstone to the Heart of Stone Studio website is a multi-step process that is very costly in terms of time and effort. Re-posting it is also time-consuming–much more than just returning it to a tray in a jewelry store.

In order to keep this website cost-effective we are instituting a two-stone limit on returns for refund and a five-stone limit on returns for store credit.

This means that you can return all or any part of your order without question, but if you return more than two stones per order and ask for a refund, we will rank the stones according to value and you will be charged a 15% re-stocking fee on all but two least expensive stones. The balance will be paid to you as a refund back to your original payment source.

If you ask instead for store credit, you can return up to five stones for free.

Multiple-stone returns of any size are subject to the directives in our Return Policy, above.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We want you to be happy with your purchase and will make every effort to make sure you get the stones you really love.

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